I figured he was deserving enough of his own thread as he seems like a fairly significant signing for anyone that gets him this off-season. The latest, per Rotoworld:

The Nationals, Yankees, Cubs, and Rangers are among teams that have shown interest in 19-year-old Cuban defector Jorge Soler.People familiar with the situation expect Soler to sign a contract similar to the three-year, $15.5 million deal given to outfielder Leonys Martin in 2011. His potential to hit for power has made him a player that some believe could have more offensive upside than the heavily-scouted Yoenis Cespedes, but Soler would need 800 to 1,000 at-bats in the minor leagues before he's ready, unlike Cespedes, and is not considered an immediate solution.

Count me in as a fan of this idea. Since he arrived, Theo has preached the idea that the Cubs system needs more concrete assets and this seems to be a chance to grab one. I'm curious as to where he would fall were he hypothetically to be in an MLB draft.

Last edited by ctcf on Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:48 pm, edited 14 times in total.

We're talking about him a little in the IFA thread over in the minor league forums. No idea where he'd fall into the draft, but he played some games against a Bryce Harper led US squad when they were both 15 and they were evidently the 2 best players on the field by far. He' a big guy, good athlete, good looking swing, with lots of power potential. He's definitely the type of guy we need in the minors. One article I read said he'd probably need 800 at bats or so in the minors, before he's ready. Give him a major league deal, spread the money out some and hope we hit the jackpot. Hell, if we get both him and Cespedes, I'd be happy as hell.

davell wrote:We're talking about him a little in the IFA thread over in the minor league forums. No idea where he'd fall into the draft, but he played some games against a Bryce Harper led US squad when they were both 15 and they were evidently the 2 best players on the field by far. He' a big guy, good athlete, good looking swing, with lots of power potential. He's definitely the type of guy we need in the minors. One article I read said he'd probably need 800 at bats or so in the minors, before he's ready. Give him a major league deal, spread the money out some and hope we hit the jackpot. Hell, if we get both him and Cespedes, I'd be happy as hell.

I'd be ecstatic if we got them both. Those two, Fielder and a SP would be an outstanding off-season in my book.

Yeah, he'd be much better off staying in Cuba until he's 23. But since he's already in the Dominican, I'm not sure he can stop the process at this point. My guess is we'll be hearing quite a bit more on his situation over the next couple of days.

If Soler is screwed and is definitely coming over, here's how I hope the Cubs look at this opportunity: If Soler is this talented, to where he was going to get 15 mill or so, now he's only going to get 2.9 mill max under the new rules. I'd give him all of our IFA money, maybe even an extra 100,000 or so, since there is no penalty for that. Then, I'd take the penalty and STILL spend the 2.9 mill on other guys as well. Yeah, you're going to pay double, because of the tax. But, if you were going to do it anyway just on Soler anyway, why not take the penalty so you can add more talent as well? If you spend 6 mill total, you'll get taxed an extra 6 as well, so you're spending 12 altogether. Which is still less than you may have given Soler by himself. The only real downside here is you'd be penalized by not being able to spend more than 250,000 on any player for the following season. That said, you could take the quantity over quality approach for that year, while spending big on a few impact guys this year. If this kid is the real deal, I hope this is the way the Cubs look at it.

Phil Rogers says Cuban prospect, Jorge Soler (the 19-year-old studly counterpart to 26-year-old Yoenis Cespedes), is expected to sign soon. By my reading of the new CBA, the spending limits on international amateurs doesn’t kick in until next year. If so, young Mr. Soler is going to get paaaaaid.

Goldstein says Yanks, Rangers, and Phils in that order, as the 3 favorites to sign him. Mike Rizzo said he expects Soler to receive a contract larger than Leonys Martin. Which obviously confuses me, since he's 19. Does this IFA limited spending thing start immediately or not?

Kevin Goldstein answered a tweet of mine about Soler. I asked whether he has immunity from new IFA rules until January 1st and he said he does. Until July actually. So, he's not screwed and I hope we give him whatever it takes.

On a side note, I guess this rule appilies to other IFA as well. For what it's worth, there are still some high profile Dominicans from last July 2nd signing period yet to be signed as well. Could be our last shot at beefing the system up before the new rules take affect. I hope we make a couple of splashes, if this includes those guys as well, and I see no reason why it wouldn't.

I truly think our FO plan this offseason has been to get all 3 of these guys. At this point, I'll be very surprised if we don't get at least 2 of them. If we get Cespedes though, I could see a team go crazy and give Soler crazy as hell money, partly to block us from totally dominating this market.

davell wrote:I truly think our FO plan this offseason has been to get all 3 of these guys. At this point, I'll be very surprised if we don't get at least 2 of them. If we get Cespedes though, I could see a team go crazy and give Soler crazy as hell money, partly to block us from totally dominating this market.

Given how Goldstein phrased it, it sounds like the Cubs might already be there.

davell wrote:Goldstein says Yanks, Rangers, and Phils in that order, as the 3 favorites to sign him. Mike Rizzo said he expects Soler to receive a contract larger than Leonys Martin. Which obviously confuses me, since he's 19. Does this IFA limited spending thing start immediately or not?

Haha, I thought this was a new thread and became disheartened when I skimmed through and saw this.

Any time you can get a guy who would probably be the consensus top prospect in our system (if him ranking in the 10-20 top 100 range is true), without giving up a draft pick, then you have to go all out for it. Let's hope.

davell wrote:I truly think our FO plan this offseason has been to get all 3 of these guys. At this point, I'll be very surprised if we don't get at least 2 of them. If we get Cespedes though, I could see a team go crazy and give Soler crazy as hell money, partly to block us from totally dominating this market.

No other team with competent management is going to change their offer to Soler based upon where two other guys signed.

And on Sunday, two National League sources believe the Cubs are not seriously in the mix for Cespedes.

The buzz in the industry is Chicago’s focus is on 19-year-old Cuban sensation, Jorge Soler, who has yet to be ruled a free agent. The figure the Cubs are believed to be willing to spend on Soler (according to two sources) is $27.5 million. The number of years is not known.

And on Sunday, two National League sources believe the Cubs are not seriously in the mix for Cespedes.

The buzz in the industry is Chicago’s focus is on 19-year-old Cuban sensation, Jorge Soler, who has yet to be ruled a free agent. The figure the Cubs are believed to be willing to spend on Soler (according to two sources) is $27.5 million. The number of years is not known.

davell wrote:I truly think our FO plan this offseason has been to get all 3 of these guys. At this point, I'll be very surprised if we don't get at least 2 of them. If we get Cespedes though, I could see a team go crazy and give Soler crazy as hell money, partly to block us from totally dominating this market.

No other team with competent management is going to change their offer to Soler based upon where two other guys signed.

True. The problem with that is the "competent management". That only applies to probably half of baseball.